Follow a customer home
Customer Disconnect Syndrome
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Introduction
In this episode of “Bob and Alice” -
Bob and Alice go on a breakfast date.
The Giganet team go visit customers.
We meet a new anti-design pattern: Customer Disconnect Syndrome
Breakfast in Marina Del Rey
Bob, “I have to go. But, I’ll call you. We’ll make plans”.
"Yes, please do," Alice replies, her throaty alto voice filled with anticipation.
Bob calls Alice. After 3 years, it’s time for their first date.
Bob upbeat, “Hey Alice. Come va?”
Alice with a smile in her voice, “Molto bene, Bob!”.
Bob, “How do you feel about breakfast in Marina Del Rey next Sunday?”
Alice, “Sounds wonderful. Pick me up at 930?. Jerzy is taking the kids to Six Flags for the day and we’ll have plenty of time. They’re planning to do the Wonder Woman ride”.
Sunday at 930, Bob knocks at the front door. Alice opens. She’s wearing a maxi summer dress with blue and white tonal butterflies, and flat sandal. They exchange a light kiss on the lips. The scent of freshly bloomed flowers from the nearby garden drifts in, mingling with the calm air.
Alice takes her bag, its fabric rustling softly as she slings it over her shoulder. Together, they walk to the car, their footsteps in sync on the gravel driveway, the stones crunching quietly under their weight.
Bob turns to her with a warm smile, his voice light and admiring, "Alice, you look beautiful." His eyes genuinely reflect his words, appreciating her effortless grace.
Alice responds with a soft laugh, her voice tinged with affection, "Thank you, Bob. You look pretty good yourself."
Alice stops, “This is your car?!”
Bob, “Yep”.
Alice, “What year?”
Bob, “1970”.
Alice came right back at him, “Oldsmobile 440, 455 V8, 400 HP, right?”. She knows her vintage movies and her cars.
Bob, “Yep.”
Alice, “Where did you get it?”
Bob, “I bought the car for $500 from a junkyard in East LA. My buddy Julio Alvarez is into restoring vintage cars and he got me into the craziness. We worked on weekends for 2 years in Julio’s garage. We had to machine some of the parts and accessories from scratch. We did all the work ourselves in Julio’s garage including the detailing”.
Alice, “I’m impressed”.
Bob opens the passenger door, “Milady - please join me on an adventure”.
They drive to Marina Del Rey and park.
Alice, “Where are we having breakfast?”
Bob, “At the Marriott, on the roof”.
As Alice and Bob approach the Marriott, the soft murmur of the city buzzes around them. They step into the elevator, its doors closing with a gentle whoosh, sealing them from the urban sounds. The elevator hums quietly as it ascends, the subtle vibration under their feet hinting at the rapid ascent.
Upon reaching the rooftop, the door slides open, revealing a brisk gust of wind that carries the salty tang of the sea. A helicopter sits on the helipad, its rotors silent for the moment.
Alice gazes out, her eyes wide with wonder. "What a stunning view of the harbor and the ocean, I love it!" she exclaims. The expansive water shimmers under the sunlight, its surface dotted with boats. The gentle lap of waves against the shore melds with the distant cries of seagulls, creating a serene soundscape.
Bob turns to her with a smile, his voice carrying over the breeze, "Here's our ride."
A man in a blue polo shirt, khaki chinos and sneakers walks over to them.
Bob, “Josh - great to see you again!”.
They exchange a bro hug. Bob does the introductions.
Bob, “Alice, this is Josh. Josh went to high school with me and Barry. He was a Navy Search and Rescue pilot. After he got out of the service, he started a helo service here. While Barry and I were fooling around with electrical engineering, Josh was serving our country.
Josh, this is my friend Alice. We were thinking about breakfast”.
Alice is fast on her feet. She’s thinking about Catalina Island. Waits for Bob and Josh to lead.
Alice, “Josh, pleasure to meet you!”.
Josh, “Alice, Enchante”.
Bob, “Ma’am, what’s your position on a picnic breakfast in Catalina?”
Alice, “I’d love it!”.
Josh leads them into the Bell 505. He helps them strap in and put on headsets.
The 15’ helicopter ride from Marina del Rey to Catalina Island over the Pacific Ocean was breathtaking. As they flew towards Catalina Island, they were struck by the sudden contrast between LA urban sprawl and the rugged terrain of Catalina.
Josh points to the right and says, “Look over there”. They see dolphins and whales swimming in the ocean below.
Josh touches down on Catalina on a little inlet close to Avalon, nestled against the backdrop of towering cliffs and the ocean. Josh sets up a little picnic table, 2 chairs and pops open an umbrella. He hands them a picnic basket with chilled wine. Josh smiles at them, “Enjoy, you guys!”.
Josh, “Text me when you want me to pick you up - allow an hour for me to come and get you, could be less if I have a charter inbound to Catalina”.
Alice and Bob, “Thanks!”.
Alice, “What an adventure!”.
They open the basket and set out food. Bob opens the wine. The wine, food and conversation flow. They don’t want it to end.
Bob, “What are you doing in another 3 weeks?”.
Alice pauses. She’s thinking about her planned trip to Pakistan and Zurich on the JS Edwards investigation.
Alice smiles coyly, “Why do you ask, you had something in mind?”
Bob, “I have a romantic weekend in Rome in mind”.
Alice tilts her head to the side, and plays with her hair, “Ohhhh. Yummy. That might work out. I have some business in Zurich on the 29th. You could meet me in Zurich and we could fly to Rome together. I already booked Jerzy to take care of the kids”.
Bob, “Well how random is that. I’m giving a talk at ETH on the 28th on IoT security. A paper that I wrote with Pesya. I already booked my folks to take care of my kids”.
She smiles, gently touches his arm and gives it a little squeeze. “Not random at all, you rascal. You just elegantly engineered that didn’t you?”
Bob laughs, “You got me! Shall we text Josh for a pickup?”
Alice, “I don’t want this to end, but yes, let's”.
2 hours later they’re back in Santa Monica outside of Alice’s house, sitting in Bob’s red 1970 Oldsmobile 440.
Alice smiles, “I feel like a couple of 16 year olds”.
She looks up at Bob as he opens the passenger door and helps her out of the car. She leans into him as they walk to the house.
Follow them home
The Giganet team starts following customers home.
It’s the first time that the entire team assembles in one place at the same time; sitting around in a circle on the carpeted floor.
Iris, the CEO, starts the meeting with the check-in protocol, “Guys - not everyone knows everyone. Before check-in, I’d like you to introduce yourself and tell us your secret superpower. Barry, will you start?”.
Barry, “I’m co-founder and VP Sales, my secret superpower is my Adidas track-suit. I can leap over high buildings and close deals faster than a speeding bullet. I’m in”.
Madison, “I’m Madison, I look after Northern California sales, my secret superpower is being cheeky, big and beautiful. Customers cannot resist me. I’m in”.
Pesya, “I’m Pesya, I look after security and privacy for the company. I’m a Moldovanian, an alien from the planet Moldavanka. As a Moldovanian, I was born with incredible abilities to sniff out bugs. That’s why I always smile. I’m in”.
Lena returned to the team after 6 months in Tomsk looking after her parents. She’s back to her original brunette hair. She let it grow out. She seems content and calm.
Lena, “I’m Lena, I’m a full-stack software engineer on Bob’s team. My superpower is my husband Sergei. I’m in”.
Yasmin, “I’m Yasmin, I’m a software engineer on Bob’s team, I look after the communications between the cloud and the Gig worker watches. My superpower is Amir’s Amex Black Card. Seriously? My superpower is my friendship with Pesya and Lena. I’m in”.
Justin, “I’m Justin, I'm a test engineer on Bob’s team. I make sure we ship clean products to customers. My superpower is that I can sell software to tough Korean ladies. I’m in”.
Everyone laughs.
Izzy, “I’m Izzy, I’m a full-stack software engineer on Bob’s team. I work with Lena. My superpower is that I knew how to get out of academia after I got my PhD in astrophysics. I’m in”.
Bob looks around the circle and smiles from ear to ear, “I’m Bob, CTO of Giganet. My superpower is shaking things up. I’m the Dynamic Disrupter. I’m in”.
Everyone laughs.
Barry yells, “Iris - you forgot to tell us your superpower!”.
Iris, “I’m Iris, co-founder and CEO of Giganet. My superpower is that I finally stopped smoking last month. I’m in.
There is one more person, we almost forgot”.
Mark, “Hi all, I’m Mark. I know some of you. I worked with Bob, Pesya and Yasmin at Google. My superpower is I know how to listen. I’m in”.
Clapping and cheering.
Iris, “Over the next 2 weeks, we’ll be traveling to customers and talking to them. We’ll listen more than we talk and be very curious about what they say. Nothing in the conversation is off-limits. Turn off your devices before the conversation so that you can give the customer your undivided attention. You’ll be working in pairs. One of you will listen and make mental notes, the other will conduct the conversation. Remember - this is a data collection mission, not a customer training session. Dress code is a Giganet logo t-shirt, jeans or skirts for the women.
The objective of this mission is to increase usage of our system with Gig workers. Remember that mission.
I’m dividing you up into 5 pairs: Justin and Iris, Lena and Izzy, Bob and Yasmin, Madison and Izzy, Barry and Pesya.
Before we hit the road, we have some housekeeping stuff from Lena and Madison”.
Bob nods at Lena.
Lena, “Guys, Izzy and I developed a GPT that listens to one of our Slack channels. After you finish a call with customer, slack your notes to the #et-phone-home channel. The GPT will analyze your notes, slack a summary back to the channel and create follow-up tasks in the Shortcut app”.
Barry looks at Madison and nods.
Madison, “Barry and I compiled a list of contacts and scheduled meetings for you over the next 2 weeks. We’ve put helluva a lot of work into this and you better be f-g serious about coming to your meetings on time. As a matter of fact - be there 15’ earlier and check Waze for traffic conditions.
Now I’m going to smack you in the face with a few things:
Nobody cares what you did yesterday. Ask yourself every day, what have you done today to help customers?
Some of these people or the situation may be scary to you engineer people. The more you face fear with customers, the better you’ll get at it.
Don’t be motivated, be literally obsessed with solving problems for the customer. Give them your phone number and be there for them. This is how we crush the competition from EY and Salesforce.
Don’t love them and leave them. 48 hours after the meeting, call them up and ask them how they’re doing and if they have anything to add. Make sure they have your number.
Customer Disconnect Syndrome - anti-pattern
Startups losing contact with their customers is a common challenge.
This often occurs as a company grows, scales, and shifts its focus from individual customer relationships to broader market strategies.
What does it look like?
In the initial stages of a startup, founders are deeply personally involved in every aspect of the business, including sales, customer support, and product development. This close interaction with early customers fosters a deep understanding of their needs, pain points, and usage patterns. However, as the company grows and scales, founders may become increasingly removed from day-to-day customer interactions, leading to a disconnect between the company and its customers. This can result in missed opportunities to address customer needs, fix issues promptly, and drive product adoption.
Solution:
To combat Customer Disconnect Syndrome, you must prioritize building and maintaining strong customer relationships throughout every stage of the company's growth. Here's how:
Founder-Led Customer Engagement: Even as the company scales, founders should continue to engage directly with customers on a regular basis. This can include attending customer meetings, responding to support tickets, and participating in user feedback sessions. By staying connected to customers firsthand, founders can remain attuned to evolving needs and market trends.
Empower Customer-Facing Teams: Founders should empower and support their teams, including engineering, to serve as advocates for customers within the organization. Teams should have the autonomy to escalate customer issues, provide feedback to product teams, and champion customer-centric initiatives.
Developers should talk directly with customers. This will give developers a reality check and customers a sense of confidence that the company is listening to them.Implement Feedback Loops: Establishing robust feedback loops between customers and product teams is essential for driving product improvements and innovation. This can include collecting feedback through surveys, user interviews, and usage analytics, and incorporating customer insights into the product development process.
Invest in Customer Education and Enablement: Provide customers with resources and tools to maximize the value they derive from the product. This can include comprehensive documentation, training programs, and proactive communication about product updates and best practices.
Measure and Monitor Customer Health: Implement metrics and KPIs to track customer satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Regularly monitor these metrics to identify areas for improvement and proactively address customer concerns.
By adopting a customer-centric approach and prioritizing ongoing engagement and communication with customers, tech founders can mitigate the risk of Customer Disconnect Syndrome and foster long-term success for their startups.
On a park bench in Venice CA
Bob and Mark sitting on the park bench.
The tall bald man remained silent as they sat on the park bench.
In front of them there was the green calm of the park in front of the Venice boardwalk.
A man hungry for answers, must stock up on patience.
A man in possession of analytical skills needs to listen.
That is why Mark remained silent.
Mark listened carefully to Bob.
Mark, “I think our work is almost complete with Giganet and your work is just beginning with Alice”.
Bob, “I agree”.